Cleveland Technical College 1957-1994

Cleveland Technical College was opened in 1957 in a new dedicated building on Corporation Road Redcar. Working closely with the major employers of the area, Dorman Long and ICI, the North Riding County Council provided a centre to meet the educational and technical training needs of the major local industries at that time. The original three departments of Science, Engineering and Building, were joined by Commerce in 1959. Under Principals J. Dunning (1957-1963) and L. Robinson (1963-1985) further major expansion came into other areas such as General Education (including ‘O’ and ‘A’-levels), Visual and Performing Arts, Health Care, Business, and Computing. The intention throughout was to provide ‘further education’, that is, education for people beyond school age, and to provide it as flexibly as possible. The college performed a significant role in the community in this respect, particularly with the ‘return to study’ initiatives in vogue in the 1980s, under the leadership of Michael D. Clark, who became Principal in 1985. Thus the many thousands of students who enrolled at the College in its history were of all ages, studying on a full or part-time basis, for short or longer courses at various levels, attending during the day or on evenings, or even studying ‘at a distance’. Serving local industry remained central to its mission but the college also developed partnerships with other colleges and companies in Britain and abroad, as well as establishing outreach centers across the local authority area. Thus the college enabled many students from a variety of backgrounds to achieve their goals, be it in employment, further training, or general education, at everything from acquiring basic skills to progress into higher education.

All information and photos provided by Sir William Turner Foundation